At the Doors of Death
by The McQuaid Brothers
Summary: SPOILER ALERT! HOUSE OF HADES! Okay, so it's set in HoH, at the Doors of Death. If you didn't already figure that out. Leo opens the Doors for Percy and Annabeth, Hecate comes, they fight Clytius, but I changed something. A twist to the story, it has something to do with Percy and I'm warning you, it may affect your emotions. Okay, I'll tell you. He dies...(?)
1. Chapter 1

**ANNABETH**

Annabeth couldn't hold on any longer. She wasn't even sure if her arms were still attached to her body. But the numbness slowly faded away as she collapsed next to Percy on the floor in front of the elevator. She was too tired to even move.

But she wasn't too tired to hear. Vaguely, Annabeth was aware of voices yelling around her. Then a cooling sensation came over her. It was as if she were being engulfed in a cloud, while cool, misty air blocked off her senses.

What happened after that was so strange and unnatural she was sure she would never be able to recall the feeling ever again. Her jaw moved up and down, her vocal chords vibrated, she was talking, but at the same time, she wasn't.

A deep voice reverberated around her, filling her with dread. What little hope she had in attempting to open her eyes was squashed when the voice left her. Draining her of energy she didn't even know was there.

It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Annabeth regained consciousness. She fought to open her eyes and was able to see a figure standing in front of her.

"Hazel..." Annabeth wheezed.

For a second she thought that Hazel would turn around, but as her eyes turned to where Hazel was looking, it was easy to figure out why she didn't. The Doors of Death loomed back in the darkness. Still open for business.

"The chains..." Annabeth managed, still having trouble forming full sentences. Hazel would have to cut the chains on the Doors...while avoiding that big smoky giant that stood in her path.

She closed her eyes again, opening them when a terrible roar jolted her out of her stupor.

"No!" The smoky giant yelled. Hazel had cut the chains on the left side of the Doors.

A grim smile found its way to Annabeth's lips, but the battle wasn't over just yet. Leo screamed Hazel's name. Even with the help of the goddess, Hecate, she assumed, Hazel was still having trouble. Annabeth watched her stagger towards her sword.

"Clytius!" Hazel shouted, though it seemed as more of a croak.

Annabeth watched as she cut through the chains on the right side of the Doors of Death. They shattered, and Hazel collapsed. The Doors disappeared in a flash of purple light.

The goddess raised her torches. "I would not be so certain, Clytius. Hazel's friends simply needed a litte time to reach her-time you have given them with your boasting and bragging."

Annabeth wasn't sure what she was talking about, but it seemed to have some affect. In front of Hazel, the air thickened, creating a doorway, four people stepped through.

"Sorry we're late," Jason said. "Is this the guy who needs killing?"

As Leo, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Frank began to fight Clytius, Annabeth turned to Percy, who would no doubt be struggling to get to his feet and help fight, just as she was.

Only he wasn't.

He was lying on the floor, pale and motionless.

Annabeth couldn't hold back a sob, she fell to her knees next to her boyfriend and turned him over, so she could see his face. Regretting it immediately.

His eyes were open, unseeing, like a someone who had just died a heroic death in an action movie. She recalled something that Percy had said to her just before they got into the elevator.

"Just got some kind of pain curse from that arai." He had said. She imagined one of the arai's voices inside her head.

_Death, Percy Jackson, a curse you have inflicted on so many. Now, feel it for yourself._

She cradled his shoulders and wept into his scalp.

"Wake up Percy, please, for me?" She said, her voice cracking as she sobbed. She took his hand in hers and held it tight. Never again, he'd said. Never again was Annabeth supposed to live without Percy. Her Percy. The Fates couldn't be so cruel.

She would sit there with Percy in her arms and wait forever if she had to. He always came back to her.

_Not this time_. An evil voice in her head said. Inside, she knew it was true. She had never fully realized that Percy wasn't just her best friend, or her boyfriend. Percy was actually a part of her. One she couldn't live without, and had hoped she didn't have too.

As she sat there and rocked back and forth with Percy in her arms it slowly came to her that the sound of her sobbing was the only sound in the room. The giant was gone, and the six of them had stopped fighting. They were all looking in her direction, faces contorted in pain, tears welling up in their eyes. Even Hecate stood there, sympathy dominating her expression, and a single tear rolling down her cheek. But she disappeared as soon as Annabeth blinked.

Annabeth didn't care for the them though, there was only one person in the room who demanded her attention. Ignoring everyone around her, she put a hand on Percy's cheek, and ran another through Percy's hair. His breath had been something of a comfort to her in Tartarus, as long as she knew he was around, she would've been okay.

She didn't want to close his eyes. It would be the last time she would see them. His beautiful, sea green eyes that had been so bright and alive, were now dim, as if all the color and life had been drained out of them.

Suddenly the chamber began to rumble, a stela fell and shattered on the ground.

"Annabeth-" Jason said, his voice cracking. She cut him off.

"Go," She said, hugging Percy's body closer to her chest, "leave me."

She glanced around at the others, hoping to take a final look at them and remember their faces. Her eyes stopped on Nico, who's tears were flowing freely. He made no sound, but the expression on his face made it look like he had just watched his entire family die in front of him. A part of her wondered how much Nico really cared about Percy.

The cave continued to rumble. It was Jason who spoke.

"We'll take him. We'll shadow-travel and bring him with us. Nico, Hazel, do you think you could...?"

The way he said it made it sound like somehow Percy could be fixed, that he would just pop back to life and smile his goofy smile and make some stupid joke to try to make Annabeth laugh. But he was gone, her Seaweed Brain would never return. Hazel and Nico nodded anyway.

Then, as if time had slowed down and their movements unreal, each of them took one another's hand and stepped before the shadows. Strangely, it was Nico to help Annabeth hold up Percy's limp form. He grasped for Percy's hand and held tight, as if afraid to let him go, even when he was already gone.

The darkness engulfed them, dissolving them into shadow.

Annabeth's vision cleared, and for a moment, as she gazed upon the countryside, she forgot all that had happened. Until it all came crashing down on her.

She turned to Percy, now lying on the grass with Nico sitting next to him, shaking his shoulders as if trying to wake him up.

They weren't in the cavern anymore, they weren't in Tartarus. Those places were just nightmares, where anything could happen and it wouldn't be real. Annabeth had silently hoped, and expected, that when she and Percy had escaped Tartarus, when they had returned to the world above, everything that had happened would just fade away. As if the past never existed, Tartarus would just become a haze of a memory, and she could pretend it never happened.

But she was there, and Percy was not.

Annabeth fell to her knees once more, it was pain having to re-live the thing that would surely terrorize her for the rest of her life.

Looking around her at the other demigods, tears blurring her vision, she saw Jason was holding Piper close to him. Frank comforting Hazel. She would never again have Percy to hold, to comfort her in a time of need. But she was in need whenever Percy wasn't with her.

In the distance, Annabeth could see Coach Hedge on the prow of the Argo II. He was sitting there, knees bent and his face in his hands. Next to him, a dark-haired girl wearing a purple cloak, her head bent down, with one arm folded and the other covering her mouth and nose.

Annabeth turned back to the group. Where Nico had given up on awakening Percy, Jason and Piper were crying into each other's shoulders, and where Frank was trying his best to console Hazel, despite having to wipe away constant tears himself.

The grief, the sadness, the pain, and Annabeth, the one who deserved the most comfort and attention while at the same time being utterly inconsolable, not one, not even she, noticed Percy blink.

**SO, IT WOULD BE PRETTY COOL IF YOU LEFT A REVIEW, AND, MAYBE, LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANTED ME TO CONTINUE...**


	2. Chapter 2

**PERCY**

Percy was feeling pretty crappy, but he guessed that was a part of dying. The curse had begun to wear off, just as the others had. He blinked again, and tried to move his fingers. Which wasn't very easy considering Annabeth was clutching his hand in hers.

Wait a minute...

He fought to tilt his head to the side and looked at Annabeth. It hurt enough to see her shed even one tear, looking at her like that felt like someone had ripped him open and cut out his insides. The numbness continued to leave his body, and with great effort he squeezed Annabeth's hand, trying to let her know he was there. That he was coming back to her, just as he always would.

But it seemed Annabeth was to upset to notice. He opened his mouth, and tried to speak-

"Annabeth," He said, though his voice was barely audible.

"Annabeth." He wheezed, trying to speak louder. She froze, then very slowly, as if she was afraid he would disappear, Annabeth turned to look at him.

Percy tried to find something to say, a joke or a sarcastic comment to make her smile.

"You're not going to judo flip me again are you?" He said. His goal was achieved, and she laughed, though tears were still rolling down her cheeks.

Percy got very tired just then, like he hadn't slept for three days. His eyelids began to droop and he let his head fall back on the grass. The last thing he saw was Annabeth's worried expression.

PJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJO

He woke up on the couch in the meeting room. The rest of the seven, Coach Hedge, and Reyna were all talking in hushed voices. Instead of opening his eyes to let everyone know he was awake, he kept them closed, and listened to the conversation.

"What do you mean he died? He's sleeping right there on the couch!" Coach Hedge was saying.

"It was one of the curses the arai gave him, just before we got in through the Doors," Annabeth said.

"Wait, what are arai?" Leo asked.

"Just these vile demon grandmothers obsessed with karma. For example, when Percy shot an arrow through all three of Geryon's hearts, he was cursed with the same pain that Geryon felt. Only it wasn't just that, it was everything bad he'd ever done to anyone, or what anyone had ever cursed him with," She replied. Percy noticed that Annabeth had left out what she'd been through, she was glorifying him, and he didn't know why.

"But those curses went away, right?" Jason asked.

"Yes, just like this one," said Annabeth.

"And you decided not to mention this when we all thought he was dead?" Nico said coldly. Percy almost wanted to get up and smack him for talking to his girlfriend that way, but Nico was his friend, and he was probably just upset.

"Look, I didn't know, death isn't exactly temporary. And if you didn't notice, I was a little upset," She growled back at him.

"Don't act like you're the only one who cares about him."

"Well what do you care? You're the one who blamed him for your sister's death!"

It was at that point when Percy couldn't keep his eyes closed any longer, he opened them just in time to see Nico's hair turn into black flames, and dark smoke begin to accumulate around him. The ground began to shake beneath them. It was Jason who stopped it.

"Hey Nico, how about we go for a walk," Jason said, as he forcefully dragged him out of the room. The smoke disappeared and the ground stopped shaking. Before anyone could notice, Percy closed his eyes again and leaned back against the couch. He heard Coach Hedge speak.

"Well, I think that wraps it up for now. We'll resume after everyone's, uh, calmed down," He said.

The majority of the group walked past him and out of the door, and but one remained. He felt Annabeth run a hand through his hair.

"Seaweed Brain, are you there?" She said. He opened his eyes once more, and saw Annabeth give a small smile.

"How are you holding up?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Percy said, "you seem pretty shaken up,"

"You heard all that?"

"Yeah, I did."

Annabeth sighed and leaned back on her heels, still kneeling beside the couch Percy was on.

"Don't ever do that to me again," She said. Percy smiled.

"I'll try."

Annabeth's eyes began to water, and her chin quivered. She looked down at the ground. Percy sat up and put his arms around her, holding her tight.

"It's okay, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere," Percy said.

"I thought you left me," She said, her voice small and barely audible over her crying.

"You're my Achilles' heel, Annabeth. I would rather die than live without you."

This seemed to make her cry more. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad, so he decided to just let her get it out while his mind wandered elsewhere.

He wondered if anyone besides them and their friends had known they were in Tartarus. Did anyone at Camp Half-Blood? What about Percy's mom or Thalia? He didn't really mind Chiron or any of the campers, or even Thalia knowing, but he made a note to leave it out if he mentioned the quest to his mother.

Suddenly the ship lurched to the side and he and Annabeth fell to the ground. Percy could hear a series of shouting coming from above. They made their way to the upper main deck.

Coach Hedge was standing over the railing, banging the side of the ship with his baseball bat and yelling at something, Leo was madly shaking a wii controller and making his way towards the front of the ship, and everyone else was fixated on shooting or aiming at whatever Coach Hedge was fixated on.

Percy and Annabeth ran to the railing and looked down over the side. He recognized the monster, who was currently spitting acid and making large holes in the ship, almost immediately. Its paralyzing stare, its scales that were harder than titanium, the creature was over 200 feet long. The Lydian Drakon.

**YES? NO? MAYBE SO? **


	3. Chapter 3

**SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!**

**PERCY **

"But-but that can't be!" Percy exclaimed, "Clarisse killed that thing!"

"Monsters reform, Percy," Annabeth reminded him, "Some faster than others."

Percy watched as the Drakon ripped through the ship, spitting acid and tearing through chunks of the wood. How were they supposed to kill it without a child of Ares? Wait...

"Frank!" Percy called, running about the deck trying to find the big guy. All of the demigods were running around gathering weapons, making it difficult for Percy to locate him.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something fly overhead. It was an eagle, and it was heading straight towards the Drakon. He watched as Frank dove down and made an attempt to peck at the Drakon's eye...it didn't go very well.

Before Frank could even get close, the Drakon turned around, as if he could sense him coming, and spat acid right at him. Luckily though, Frank was more cooridinated as an animal than as a human. He swerved to the side and flew back towards the ship.

Percy tried to think. How did Clarisse kill it? He remembered her stabbing it in the eye, but Frank couldn't even get close enough to do that. Then he had an idea.

"Frank!" He called. Frank came running towards him in human form.

"Yeah?"

"I have an idea, I need you to turn into a goldfish."

Frank lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, did you say goldfish?"

PJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJOPJPO

"This is never going to work."

"It's worth a shot."

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"Have faith O' small one."

"What?"

Percy wasn't able to respond, he was too busy focusing on lifting them up in the air. He had had an idea on how to kill the Drakon, that maybe a child of Ares didn't have to kill it directly, but had to be involved.

Percy had used the water from the nearby river to create a kind of floating bubble of water, so he and Frank could float over the Drakon. Then Percy could drop down right above it and stab it in the eye. Sure it probably wouldn't kill it, considering Riptide wasn't electric, but he hoped it would at least help them to get away.

He could tell Frank was trying to talk to him telepathically, but he blocked it so he wouldn't have any distractions. Percy willed the water to move over the side of the boat, and floated downwards over the Drakon's head, just above its large, beady eye.

Frank swam into Percy's pocket, where Percy would keep a bubble of water after he let the rest evaporate.

The Drakon didn't seem to notice him yet, so he did the logical thing, and splashed water at it.

It stopped what it was doing and focused on him. With Riptide on his hands, he let himself fall through the water.

The Drakon barely had any time to register what was going on before Percy's sword went straight into his eye. As Percy landed he tried to keep his eyes closed, seeing the inside of an eyeball just didn't seem very appealing to him. His foot landed on something firm but sticky, he tried not to throw up.

Percy felt himself being flung into the air as the Drakon let out a roar. When he opened his eyes he saw Frank fly out of his pocket and turn into a bird. The river was about 10 feet away, he could use it to soften his landing.

He focused on the water and tried to gather a pool of it to land on. By the time Percy managed to create a floating bubble only 3 feet deep, he was already nearing impact.

The water did little to impede his landing, and a jolt of pain ran through his body as he hit the ground.

"Percy!" He heard someone call. Probably Annabeth.

Aside from having some trouble breathing, and a stinging sensation in his stomach. He felt relatively okay. At least, if trying to avoid being stomped on by a giant monster was okay.

A large, scaly foot lifted above his head and he got his feet. Holding his stomach and gasping, he hopped away as fast as he could. The foot came down right where he had landed.

Percy collapsed on the ground. Unable to go any farther. The Drakon roared and focused his good eye on Percy, raising another foot. He closed his eyes and prepared to get squashed.

Only it didn't happen. He felt himself being lifted in the air and opened his eyes. Jason had hold of both his arms and Frank the eagle was clutching one of his legs in his talons. They were heading back towards the ship.

Percy felt himself being plopped onto the deck, Annabeth and Piper rushed towards him with nectar and ambrosia. At least, he thought it was Annabeth and Piper, their faces were kind of blurry.

He wheezed in and out, it was becoming harder to breathe.

"One of his ribs is poking against a lung," He heard someone say. A warm liquid ran down his throat and he felt someone trying to feed him something.

"He's not taking it!"

Percy's breathing grew labored, as if he were hyperventilating. It felt like there wasn't enough air, and he had to fight for it.

"The water!"

Percy was lifted into the air again, it was only a few seconds, but with his lungs on fire it felt like so much more.

A sinking sensation overcame him as the wind ruffled his hair. Percy hit the water, and began to relax. His breathing was less forced, and the pain in his stmach began to subside. He gently floating to the bottom, and landed on the bottom of the river bed.

He closed his eyes.

**ANNABETH**


	4. Chapter 4

**ANNABETH**

The _Argo II _lifted into the air. Now that the Drakon wasn't tearing through ship it was finally free to move. Annabeth felt terrible about leaving Percy, but the only chance for him to heal would be in the water.

The Drakon, now frustrated with the ship in the air and nothing to fight, let out a roar and began to slither off into the direction of the mountains. Annabeth had thought that once they waited for it to be gone, they would touch back down to get Percy. Instead, the ship kept moving forward. She turned to Leo, who was madly shaking a wii controller.

"What are you doing?!" Annabeth demanded.

"Uh, leaving?" He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But-but Percy's back there!"

Annabeth didn't get it. He had been that close to dying, and suddenly it didn't matter anymore. What was she supposed to do without him?

"Oh, Nico's volunteered stay and wait for him," Leo said.

That she didn't expect.

"What?!" She demanded. No, it wasn't true. She must've heard wrong, it was supposed to be her back there, looking after him.

"Oh, I said Nico-"

"Yes, I heard what you said! Who decided this?"

Leo hesitated, pausing to think of an answer.

"Uh, well, no one I guess. Nico said he would wait for Percy then shadow-travel with him back here, then he just left."

Leo then went back to shaking the remote, and walked away towards the control room. Leaving Annabeth frustrated with nothing to do, and no one to argue with.

**PERCY**

When Percy awoke, it was dark out. He tried to remember what time it had been when they left the cave, or at least how light it had been. Around 5 o' clock he guessed. Now it had to be somewhere around 8.

Percy sat up, still perfectly dry, as the river divided and ran around him. He could see no sign of the Drakon, which was good, until he realized that the ship was gone too.

He stood up, and assessed his surroundings. Nope. The _Argo II_ was definitely gone.

"They went ahead," said a voice out of the darkness. Percy spun around, uncapping Riptide from his pocket. A figure stepped onto the bank of the river, Nico.

"Oh, so they just, uh, left," said Percy, feeling dejected and abandoned.

"They had no choice, you provided a distraction and they couldn't waste it. I volunteered to shadow-travel you back to the ship when you were ready," Nico said.

"Oh, um, thanks," said Percy. He began to make his way out of the river and onto the bank where Nico stood.

They walked towards the nearest shadow big enough for both of them to get through. Once they were close enough, Percy took Nico's hand. Nico tensed up, growing stiff.

"Is something wrong?" Percy asked. Nico stood a little dazed for the moment, but shook his head.

"No, no, it's fine," He said. Percy didn't question him any further, and together they walked into the darkness.

They ended up walking right onto the deck, no one was there.

"I guess they're all in their cabins," Percy said. Nico nodded, then thankfully walked away before things got awkward.

Percy then made his way towards Annabeth's cabin, anxious to see his girlfriend and make sure she was okay. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Annabeth called.

"A boy with seaweed for a brain," Percy answered. He pressed his ear to the door and heard a great flurry of movement, then the sound of footsteps coming towards him. Annabeth flung the door open and wrapped her arms around him.

"I didn't know if you'd be okay," She said into his shoudler. Percy returned the hug, then picked her up and put her on the bed.

"Are you alright? You look tired," said Percy, sitting down next to her.

"I'm fine, I was just worried," She answered. She fidgeted for a moment, picking at her fingernails.

"Do you, maybe want to stay here tonight?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't think I could last the night without you."

**JASON**

Jason was feeling terrible. It wasn't that he should be, but naturally it was his instinct to beat himself up whenever something bad happened he couldn't control. Twice. Twice he could've done something for his friend and he let him down. Easily he could've swooped down and helped save Percy and Annabeth from falling into Tartarus, and he could've done the same thing for Percy just hours ago.

Well, he and Frank _did _end up saving him from being trampled by a Drakon. But not before he fell from twenty feet in the air and almost died, again. Why was he so slow? Was there something he secretly resented Percy for? What if he subconsciously held a grudge against him?

"Hey," Piper's voice brought him back out of his trance, and once he looked into her eyes he forgot what he had even been thinking about.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Um, yeah," He said,"fine."

Piper scrutinized him before speaking again, as if making sure he wasn't lying. Jason knew what she, as a child of Aphrodite, could sense with emotions. He hoped that it didn't go farther than love.

"Okay," She said, deeming him emotionally stable.

"We better go, Leo's rounding everyone up to the meeting room."

**FRANK**

As Leo went around to the cabins, Hazel and Frank were left to wait alone. Frank was worried about Hazel. Ever since Percy's "death" she'd been frazzled and nervous, and it had only gotten worse.

"Do you think he's okay?" Hazel asked. Leo had informed them of Percy's return, saying he had seen Percy and Nico appear on the deck through the cameras in the control room. Frank wondered what else Leo saw through those cameras.

The rest of the seven, including Coach Hedge, Nico, and Reyna, were herded into the room minutes later. He and Hazel regrettably didn't have much time to talk in that time. Mostly due to lack of not knowing what to say (that would be Frank), and because Leo had apparently decided it would be much faster to round everyone up by using a megaphone. Constant shout-outs of "the cow says moo" didn't really create an atmosphere for conversation.

"Alright cupcakes," Coach Hedge said, bringing everyone to attention, "here's the plan."


End file.
